Serpentine

by J. Kearston

  Bane

  Tossing the thin blanket off, I scrub a hand down my face, getting up to take a piss. Stryker’s passed out on his stomach on the other side of the bed, snoring, and I toss another pillow over his face in the hope he’ll suffocate into silence. Bunking together usually isn’t a big deal; I could typically sleep through it if it weren’t for the fact that I’ve been so high strung these last couple of weeks.

  Keeping my steps light so that I don’t wake anyone else, I head down the hall to the bathroom to relieve myself. Fairly awake now, I drag my feet on the way back, knowing I’m not going to fall back asleep anyway. Risa’s story is on constant repeat in my head, while Mason and Stryker have gotten quieter over the last few days.

  We’ve spent so long trying to get them to the point where their pasts don’t completely control them anymore, to show them that they can have lives that they can actually enjoy without a dark cloud constantly hovering over their shoulders. All it took was one trigger to have them regressing again, getting sucked down into the dark pits they’ve tried so hard to fill with anything that might make them feel better. Alcohol, hookups, fights, hobbies; but no matter how much they dumped into the void, it never seemed to shrink.

  They didn’t have Risa before, though. It might have been her story that got them thinking about their own traumas, but I doubt they’ll allow themselves to spiral too far this time, not when she needs them. They wouldn’t want her to start beating herself up and blaming herself for upsetting them, to think that she won’t be comfortable telling them anything in the future because of it. She gives them a sense of purpose that they’ve never had before, and I think it will make all the difference; for them, and for Risa.

  Which means I can’t sleep, having to keep my guard up while theirs are down, and knowing it’s entirely possible Marcus’ brothers are stupid enough to try and get revenge for his death. I glance out the window, pushing the curtain aside and staring out into the center of the clearing. We let them collect the body two days ago and they apologized on his behalf, saying all of the right things for people that value keeping the peace they need for their survival.

  But they couldn’t conceal the hatred in their eyes as they did so.

  A pained whimper has me halfway to my bedroom before the curtain even falls back into place, pushing open the door a few seconds later. I’m both relieved that it’s unlocked and not. On one hand, she trusts us, on the other, while I’m paranoid of someone possibly attacking her again, I’d feel better knowing there was an extra blockade between her and whatever idiot might break into the house. Not that the feeble lock would do much to keep anyone in this settlement at bay, but a few seconds can mean the difference between life and death.

  “Risa?”

  The tension leaves my shoulders in a rush when I find her still asleep, tossing and turning. Tangled in the sheets, her restricted movements have another of those heart wrenching sounds slipping from her, caught in a nightmare that she can’t fight her way out of.

  Crossing the room, I gently shake her shoulder, but she doesn’t respond. Her heart is racing a mile a minute as she rolls to the side, mumbling nonsense that can’t even be strung together into a mockery of a sentence. Gently, I unwrap her bindings, and on her next thrash, I barely avoid getting a black eye. But as she senses her freedom, her heart stops beating so quickly, settling back down.

  I only make it two steps towards the door before stopping. Another whimper and a pleading ‘no’ comes on the next thrash of her head, and I head straight back to the bed, giving up all this ‘respectful distance’ bullshit to crawl in behind her. Ensuring she’s free of the blanket, I pull her back against my chest, feeling worlds better than I have in weeks merely from the contact. Swiping the tangled mess of her hair from her face, I brush my knuckles over her cheek.

  I keep my voice a low murmur. “Ssh, I’ve got you. You’re alright.” Alternating smoothing a hand over her hair or arm, I keep up a steady stream of assurances and praise until she settles down. She releases a soft sigh of contentment, and honestly, it’s the first time I actually feel like I’ve managed to do anything right by this girl.

  Wrapping an arm around her, my palm settles over her stomach, holding her close. And as I rest my head on the pillow behind her, the irritation that’s been riding me for days fades away, exhaustion hitting me hard. Everything might be falling apart around us, but if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s holding on to my family’s broken pieces until they’re ready to try taking them back.

  Tightening my grip, I burrow my face in the crook of her neck, her scent a comfort as I start to drift off. I’ll hold her together until she finally realizes what I’ve been trying to convince the others for years.

  There’s nothing to actually fix, because they aren’t broken. They just need someone to love them while they figure that out.

  ***

  Risa’s ass grinds back into me as she squirms, stirring awake. Groggy and still half asleep, I don’t open my eyes, tightening my hold and buying myself a few more minutes before I have to move.

  She pauses, realizing that she isn’t alone. “Bane?”

  “Mmm,” is all that I manage, not wanting to wake up.

  Drifting back off for a bit, when I finally accept that I need to get up, her hand is covering mine over her stomach, fingers interlaced with mine. Leaning forward, I kiss the side of her neck.

  “Morning.”

  “It’s still dark,” she corrects, subtly tilting her head as if giving me an invitation. “Stryker’s snoring finally drive you away?”

  Not one to deny her, with my next kiss, I rake my teeth over her skin. “You could hear it even in here?”

  Shifting her thighs, I gently bite her shoulder as she chuckles, “I’m sure the entire clearing can on some nights.”

  Her amusement turns into a soft moan that has me growing harder than I already am. Slowly, her fingers still laced with mine, I slide my hand lower. Her shirt’s already bunched up to her waist from her tossing and turning, and soon, my thumb brushes over the waistband of the boxers she’s wearing as sleep shorts.

  When she doesn’t give any sign of being uncomfortable, I slide my hand above the fabric. Removing her hand from mine, she shifts one leg so it’s on top of mine, giving me a better angle with us lying on our sides.

  She might want someone to chase away her demons, or they very well could have already disappeared. So that I don’t risk dredging up the memories, I gloss over the fact that her nightmares brought me into her bed.

  “Then you’ll understand I couldn’t survive another night in those horrendous conditions.” Kissing away the sting from my bite, I start circling her clit above her underwear. “And my own bed sounded so much more enticing.”

  Craning her head back with a soft sigh, conversation cuts off as I quicken my pace. She huffs in protest when I stop, and with a smirk of amusement, I lick my fingers before slipping them beneath her waistband, resuming my ministrations on bare skin. Gently stroking over her slit, I simply toy with her for now, enjoying the way she squirms against me.

  As the seconds turn into minutes, her hips arch into me with her frustration. “Condom?” She inhales sharply as I slip two fingers inside of her without warning, continuing to work her sensitive bundle of nerves with my thumb.

  “Shifter women have to be on the pill if they’re trying to get pregnant; natural borns as well as turned. Something about the shift in biology messes with women’s systems to make natural pregnancy incredibly rare. One theory is that our advanced healing senses the foreign intrusion and attacks it before it can take root. Or even if it manages to, it’s a drain on the body, tricking it into believing you’re sick, so it quickly rectifies the situation.”

  “And the other?” she asks on a gasp as I hook my fingers within her, quickening my pace.

  “That the natural order of the world favors humans, and we'd quickly become the top of the food chain with our abilities if we had numbers on our side, too. We'
ve perfected a pill to make it easier to have kids, but it means you don’t need to worry about that sort of thing unless you want to get pregnant.” As an afterthought, I add, “Can’t get sexually transmitted diseases like the humans either. Healing is honestly the biggest perk, I’m realizing, and I love my animal.”

  She swivels her hips, yet still scoffs. “Yeah, that sounds like something a guy would say so he can hit it raw and baby trap a girl. Let alone, it’s looking like the shifter thing doesn’t really apply to me, so I’m going to offer a counter proposal of no condom, no cocks.”

  I nip at her shoulder. “Does that mean you want me to stop?”

  Slowly withdrawing my fingers from her slick heat, she covers my hand to stop me, hesitantly pointing out, “The door’s open.”

  Tugging her collar to the side to bare her shoulder, I press a grinning kiss to the soft skin before working a path up to her ear, whispering, “Then I guess you’d either be really quiet, or give them a show, beautiful.”

  Slipping my arm beneath her, I wrap a hand around her throat, only applying the barest pressure. Licking the shell of her ear, I work a third finger into her as I rock my hips, rubbing my cock over her ass. She fails to bite back her soft moan as I work my mouth over the sensitive spot behind her ear.

  “Well if that isn’t one of the best sounds I’ve ever heard,” I praise, driving my fingers deeper.

  Pulling away long enough to strip her underwear off, she lifts her hips to help me, using a foot to shove them off the rest of the way. Gripping her thigh, I sling her leg back over mine before rolling onto my back, spreading her wide for me as I return to torturing us both.

  “Can you imagine it, gorgeous? Stryker lying in his bed, listening to your gasps and moans, touching himself? Picturing your face as he fists the blanket beside him, trying not to come so that it won’t have to end?”

  Pumping my fingers, I rapidly thrum my thumb over her clit as she writhes against me. Her breathing picks up, clenching around my fingers with a soft, needy sound as she hovers on the edge, almost there.

  My voice a low whisper in her ear, she shivers. “Mason cursing, wishing he was the one with his fingers buried inside of you while you gasp out his name. Stroking his cock faster with every breathless sound you make.”

  “I didn’t gasp out your name, though,” she argues, bringing a hand up to bite her fist. Fingertips scraping across the perfect spot, she releases a steady stream of low curses, bucking her hips.

  “No, you’re going to scream it for me.”

  Sliding out from behind her, I pin her beneath me, slamming my lips against hers in a bruising kiss. I mentally curse every deity in existence as I roll my tongue against hers that the closest place that sells condoms is over thirty miles away.

  Waiting to break the kiss until the last possible moment, I grab a pillow and press it into her hand. “You don’t want them walking in on us, then you’re going to want to scream into this.”

  Kissing a path down her body, I grip her hips, dragging her to the edge of the bed. I drop to my knees, fingers digging into the soft skin of her inner thighs as I spread her wide for me. My mouth is on her a moment later, absolutely devouring her, my tenuous control on the verge of snapping.

  When she’s writhing against me, I brace one hand on the mattress, thrusting two fingers inside of her and using the new position to move my hand quickly, never fully withdrawing my fingers. Loosing a series of unintelligible pleas, her back arches off of the bed. Dipping my head, I latch into her clit, sucking hard.

  Twisting my hand so that I can slide a finger into her ass, she gasps into the pillow. Mercilessly, I thrust into her, tonguing and sucking her clit while pinning one of her thighs to the mattress. She comes with a muffled shout, my name a curse on her lips as she tangles her fingers in my hair. Bucking against my face, she rides through the wave of pleasure as I relentlessly devour her.

  Coming down from her high, she slumps to the mattress, boneless and breathing heavy. With one last flick of my tongue, I languidly withdraw my fingers one at a time. Kissing the inside of her thigh as I stand, I drop onto my back in the empty space beside her. Tucking one arm beneath my head, I close my eyes, catching my breath.

  Shifting closer, she rolls so that she can rest her head on my chest, and I drop my arm to keep her trapped against me, stroking my thumb over her hip. “Fuck,” she huffs and silent laughter shakes my chest.

  Awkwardly bending my neck, I kiss the top of her head. “Sorry, apparently that’s off the table.”

  She looks up at me, violet eyes glowing in the dim lighting. I can practically hear my wallet weeping on the nightstand down the hall, knowing that I’ll give this woman literally anything she asks for if she keeps looking at me like that.

  “So what’s on the agenda for today? Back to the woods for round two of epic failure?” she asks and I flick her hip.

  “Maybe we’ve put too much pressure on it and you’ve psyched yourself out.” Licking my lips, the lingering taste of her distracts my thoughts and she taps my chest when I zone out. “Fuck, sorry. Honestly, I’m not sure if that’s the best idea. Marcus’ brothers might attempt to get a shot in for revenge, and until we have a better read on them, I’m not inclined to give them an opening. So what about heading into town instead? We need to get you set up with some clothes and such still, and hell, maybe you’re just a late bloomer. If so, being around a bunch of humans would be a quick way to bring your other half to the surface.”

  She nuzzles her face into the crook of my neck, drawing her leg up over me and brushing against my rigid cock. Hissing in a breath, I grab the back of her thigh, stilling her squirming.

  “I’m perfectly fine holding off, but much more of that and I’m going to have to hop in the shower when I’d rather stay here and enjoy this.” I can feel her smirk against my neck, and I shake my head with a small smile as it becomes clear that she was torturing me on purpose. “So that’s how it’s going to be, huh?”

  “You’re the one that snuck into my bed, not the other way around,” she retorts, and I land a sharp smack on her ass, pointedly not removing my hand.

  “It’s my bed,” I counter, laughing.

  She shrugs a single shoulder, a massive yawn detracting away from the effect she was going for. “Semantics. I’m happy to take the couch, but you’ll have to move it upstairs. It’d be weird sleeping on a different floor than the three of you.”

  “And give up an excuse to double up?” I scoff. “It’s like you don’t even know us.” She starts to doze off and I shut my eyes, tucking my free arm behind my head.

  Fuck, she’s perfect. I can’t wait to see Stryker’s pissed off face when I beat him to the punch and marry her first.

  Chapter 12

  Mason

  “Girl sizes are stupid.”

  Stryker huffs in agreement, lifting the pair of shorts that Risa picked out and we stole from her bag. He holds them up against a pair of jeans to see if they match at the waist, and deciding that it’s pretty damn close, tosses them in the cart. Watching her try stuff on, it became abundantly clear that the numbers stamped on women’s clothes are simply for decoration because they vary so wildly that they’re utterly useless. Seeing as she’s adamant three outfits are enough, cringing as she saw the price, we were forced to go rogue.

  While she’s busy trying on swimsuits, Bane convincing her that it’s that or skinny dipping on our next lake run, the two of us are hurrying around, snagging things at random. Pajama pants, summer dresses; anything she might need or we secretly want to see her in ends up in the growing pile in our cart.

  Making our way to the register so that we can get everything in the truck before she notices, Stryker purses his lips, eyes flitting to me and away for the tenth time in the last two minutes until I finally snap, “What?”

  He looks over his shoulder before leaning closer. We spent the entire ride into town teaching Risa how to turn everything into white noise, to dampen her heightened senses to a more ma
nageable level before we became surrounded by people and she had a meltdown. The first time is always the hardest; hundreds of scents, constant chatter, footsteps, car doors slamming, or babies screaming. It rises to a level where you can’t actually discern anything at all, just a chaotic, overwhelming onslaught that creates an instant headache and makes most of us irritable the longer we stay, hating the vulnerable state that muting our senses puts us in.

  Still, he drops his voice to barely more than a whisper, just in case. “What if us hovering this closely is making her feel too safe? If she felt like she was in danger, surrounded by this many humans and in an unfamiliar place, it might trigger her shift as a defensive mechanism.”

  Skidding to a halt, I glare at him. “That didn’t work with a wolf literally trying to tear her throat out, so why would it be any different here when she’s mildly uneasy at best? Worse, what if something actually happened to her; you going to be able to live with yourself after kicking a freshly hatched bird out of the nest above a lake of gators?”

  I scoff, heading to the register and dumping everything on the counter. “We’d have to put some decent distance between us for her to feel that exposed, so she’d be wide fucking open for anything to happen. We wouldn’t make it to intervene before it was too late.”

  Paying and grabbing all of the bags, we hurry back to the truck to toss stuff in the backseat. Locking it behind us, we cross the strip mall’s parking lot to catch up with the others. At this point, Bane’s likely grasping at straws to keep her occupied, and I’m sure she’s already guessed why we disappeared.

  Stryker runs a hand through his hair, as frustrated as the rest of us and not knowing how to cope with it. “We should have driven farther from home. We’re only a few cities away from Kingstyn, and you bet your ass she’s listed as a missing person. A change of eye color isn’t nearly enough to keep someone from recognizing her. Tomorrow, we need to make a trip to the agency to get her new ID sorted out and start rebuilding her life. That way even if someone thinks they recognize her, she can dispute it so that Blake asshole doesn’t catch wind of where she’s at.”